Hard Questions
by TreacleTart301
Summary: A theft at the Ministry. An Apple. Scorpius Malfoy. Ginny Weasley.


Scorpius Malfoy strode through the Ministry of Magic on his way to visit Harry Potter. He was taking bites out of a shiny, juicy red apple. He hadn't had time to grab a proper breakfast in the morning, so he had settled instead for the piece of fruit. It had been a good decision as the apple was one of the sweetest he'd ever had. Every time he bit into it, the juice dribbled down his fingers.

Harry's office was on the far side of the atrium and Scorpius took his time getting to it. As he strode through the room, he noticed the bright red hair of Ginny Potter. He wondered what she was doing at the ministry during the middle of the day. He figured she'd be busy with Quidditch practice or their children.

It quickly became apparent that both of them were headed to the same place.

"Hello Mrs. Potter," Scorpius greeted her.

"Ah, hello Scorpius. How are you doing honey? We haven't seen you around the house lately. Rose tells me you've been very busy with your studies for 's."

"It's true. My healer training has been intense to put it mildly. I feel like I hardly ever have any free time these days," he answered.

Ginny looked at him closely. "Just make sure you're taking some time for yourself. You don't want to burn yourself out."

Scorpius smiled. It was nice to see her again. There was something comforting about the way she talked to him. It always seemed like she genuinely cared how he was doing.

"Looks like Harry isn't in right now," said Scorpius pointing at the empty office.

"That's odd. He should be here. We were supposed to meet for lunch at noon," she said with a puzzled look on her face. "I suppose he's just running late."

"Well, why don't we just take a seat? I'm sure he'll be here soon," suggested Scorpius.

Just as they were sitting down, the hallways exploded with noise and people running back and forth. Shouts echoed from office to office and it seemed that every Ministry official had begun sprinting towards the elevators. Ginny and Scorpius watched the chaos unsure of what to do.

"Do you suppose we should run too?" Scorpius asked.

Ginny watched as person after person piled into the elevator across the hall from them. "Harry knows I'm supposed to be here, so if it's an emergency, he'll come and get me."

"What if he forgets? What if he's too busy with whatever is going on to stop and get you?" Scorpius said with an edge of panic creeping into his voice.

Just then the booming voice of Dean Thomas came on over the loud speakers. "Attention all Ministry employees. There has been a theft within the Department of Mysteries. Please, be advised that the thief is still in the building. Anyone suspicious should be reported to the Auror's office immediately. Thank you for your cooperation."

"Great," wailed Scorpius. "I told you something was wrong. Now, we're trapped like sitting ducks inside of the Ministry while some madman is on the loose! Knowing our luck, he'll probably end up trying to hide in this office."

Ginny smiled and shook her head. "It's going to be okay. Just calm down. We're safe in here and even if the thief shows up, I know quite the assortment of spells."

Scorpius didn't look like he thought Ginny was much of a line of defense. "So I've heard. My father told me that everyone was terrified of your bat-boogey hex during your school days."

"Ha. You mean to tell me that Draco actually told you something nice about me? I'll have to mark this day down in history."

"Don't tell him I said so," said Scorpius with a smirk. "He'd be horrified if he knew you knew."

With a nod of her head, Ginny answered, "Don't worry. His secret's safe with me. So what did you come to see Harry about?"

Bright pink flush crept up Scorpius pale cheeks. "Ummm….errr…It was something I'd prefer to speak to him about first. It's not that I don't want to tell you…" he trailed off awkwardly.

"Are you finally planning on asking Rose to marry you? Want Harry to help you break the news to my brother?" Ginny joked.

Scorpius went deadly silent and his cheeks turned a deep shade of red. "That obvious, huh?" Scorpius managed to choke out.

Ginny was just about to say something when an explosion rocked the hallway.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" Scorpius shouted.

"Quick, duck down behind this desk!" Ginny commanded. "And get your wand out!"

The pair hunkered down in Harry's office, watching in shock, as flashes of red, green, and blue flew through the corridor outside. From where they sat, they could see the outlines of a dark shadowy figure being driven backwards by a team of Aurors.

Suddenly, the shadowy figure disappeared behind a shield charm. Spells bounced off of it from every angle and the Aurors were ducking and diving to avoid being hit by them.

"Look, the shield is open in the back. Stupid person didn't think to cover his backside. I bet with some good aim, I could hit him with a stunner," whispered Ginny.

Scorpius looked horrified and grabbed at Ginny's robes as she tried to crawl around the side of the desk. "Are you crazy? What if you miss? That person was just fighting an entire army of Aurors. I can't imagine the two of us are going to stop him."

Laughter erupted from Ginny. "You're just going to have to trust me. After taking on Death Eaters, this will be a piece of cake."

"But that was twenty five years ago! Don't you think you might've gotten a bit rusty since then?" Scorpius asked skeptically.

The glare that Ginny shot Scorpius was enough to quell any further comment.

Carefully, Ginny crept along the bottom of the desk until she had a good angle on the intruder. She leaned against the wooden base and held her wand steady in front of her.

"When I cast this spell, the glass in the window is going to shatter, so make sure you cover your face. Although, I suppose a few well-placed cuts might make you look a bit tougher and more rugged. Might help with your proposal plan."

"Is this really the time for jokes?" said Scorpius with his mouth agape.

With a quick flick of her wand, Ginny shot a stunner at the hallway. As she had predicted, the glass exploded from the force of the spell and shards flew all over the place. Several shards embedded into the walls and floor. The shadowy figure just on the other side of the glass went flying through the air and crashed into the wall with a sick thud.

"Told you I could still do it," said Ginny with a smirk.

A loud commotion filled the office as the shield charm fell and the Aurors came running forward to apprehend the suspect. Quickly, it was all wrapped up.

Once the suspect was in custody, Harry stepped into his office to meet his wife for their much delayed lunch. Scorpius' presence seemed to surprise him.

Scorpius was just about to begin explaining when Ginny burst out, "He wants to ask Rose to marry him, but he's scared of dealing with my brother, so he wants you to give him a hand. Poor prat. Little does he know you're about as romantic as dragon dung."

"Hey…" said Harry defensively.

"Oh, look. Here comes my brother now," Ginny chortled with a wicked grin. She gave Scorpius a hard shove forward and said. "Here's your opportunity to tell my brother."

"Tell me what?" asked Ron as he stepped into the office.

Harry just laughed and Scorpius muttered what sounded like a string of swear words under his breath.

"Nothing, mate. I'll tell you all about it later," said Harry with a deep, booming chuckle.

* * *

 _Hi there!_

 _This story was written for the Story Generator Challenge on HPFF. My prompt was to write a story including Ginny Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy, An Apple, The Ministry of Magic, and a theft. This little piece is what I came up with._

 _I know it's short, but it was mostly written during a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo, so hopefully it makes at least a little bit of sense. I'd love to hear what you thought about it in the comment section below!_

 _Thank you as always for reading!_

 _~Kaitlin/TreacleTart_


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